my computer said it has been locked due to illegalactivity. How do I scan to see if I have a

Leobobbay wrote:

I just received a message that my computer has been locked to to illegal activity and my passwords, emails, banking information has been compromised. I shut down and restarted twice. Can anyone direct me to a program that can scan to see if I have a trojan horse or virus on my mac

You can shut down & reboot your modem / router if applicable...

I would try SafeBoot How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support to sort anomalies.

If you are using Safari browser, when you go to relaunch Safari hold the Shift key down when launching the app.

ref

Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls ...

How to avoid scams when using Apple Cash to send and ...

Avoid fraud by using encrypted websites in Safari on Mac

if you still have access to your user account—

and you suspect you have installed adware/malware:

>System Preferences>Profiles click into it and then remove all the suspicious things from the list. (This Preference pane will not be present if no profiles found.)

also Verify you are not using SOCKS proxy:

>System Preferences>Networks>Advanced>Proxy uncheck the box [Ventura >System Settings> search “Proxy”]

Adware/malware launch daemons can set SOCKS proxies without user participation.

(SOCKS is an Internet protocol that exchanges network packets between a client and server through a proxy server.)

Adware Removal Guide—Manual removal of : http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-identification/

or

Try running this trusted utility https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

The typical way that scam is done is by running a never-ending script inside an ad served to a web site you visited. You have trouble switching away from that window because the script is running as fast as it can.

If you can, switch to a different open windows and close the one with the warning.

Else quit your Browser.

Else choose Force Quit off the Apple menu and quit your browser.

Else type Command-Option-Escape and quit your Browser

Else use apple menu > Shutdown your mac

Else emergency power-off by holding the power button for ten seconds or a little longer.

when re-launching your browser, hold the shift key to NOT re-open previous windows.

you should be free now.

That message is unlikely to be from any legitimate source.

It was moist likely sent to you by criminals who want to use the fear they induced to get you to compromise your integrity 'to save yourself'.